No wonder Md. hospitals don't want to restrain costs

Maryland is on the right track in trying to do something to cut hospital costs ("Hospitals uneasy over rate plan," April 7).

A state proposal would establish a plan to tie medical spending to the growth of the economy. The plan, according to your story, "is making hospital executives uneasy."

Well, let me tell those executives that their present hospital costs are making me uneasy.

In early March, I had an allergic reaction to "Z-pack," an antibiotic prescribed for a virus that had been diagnosed as a bacterial infection

I suffered for three days with no appetite and little sleep and finally had to go to the emergency room at Greater Baltimore Medical Center. I was treated royally there — but I soon found out that royalty pays a price.

I nearly fell off my chair when the bill arrived: $4,745 for my three-day, two-night stay.

Yes, I have health insurance. But I wonder why something can't be done to curb these extreme, unfair hospital costs. Perhaps the state's new program can help solve this dilemma.